I'm beginning to wonder if I'm not some sort of Christmas Curmudgeon. I'm going to rely on input from some of my self proclaimed curmudgeon friends/readers...and you know who you are.
I'm not particularly grouchy or feeling all bah-humbug or anything. And I don't feel like I'm completely without the "Christmas" spirit--I'm just easily bothered by others that are being pretenders.
Let me explain...
I started to sense this "curmudgeonly" spirit last Sunday morning. I found humor and irony in our pastor's sermon--that wasn't meant to be humorous or ironic. He was actually giving some good advice on keeping focus during the Christmas season. But he started by reminding us that there are many pagan traditions that can keep us distracted from the celebration of the birth of Jesus.
The irony of this message on the day after the sanctuary was decorated with "Christmas" trees, wreaths, poinsettias and garland was apparently missed by most if not all of the congregation.
Of course, the central decoration is the Nativity scene that seems dwarfed by the large trees, wreaths and bows.
Something about the whole thing just seemed a little off to me.
This was followed by the Wednesday night youth group meeting.
I have to say that I really enjoy the worship time on Wednesday night. The young man that leads that time has a great heart for God and is very transparent in his worship. It pretty much rocks every week.
(I've deleted several paragraphs because ... well, because I can.)
Maybe it's true. Could it be that I'm joining the ranks of the curmudgeons?
I don't think that I'm ready for that.
John
Btw--I had a great Wednesday morning sharing with Sparta High School and Middle School Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Thanks for inviting me!
I received a great compliment when I was told my H. S. band was so good it could direct itself. By the way, this was from the Director of Bands at Truman State whose son is the director at Kickapoo H. S. in your neck of the woods.
ReplyDeleteWith that said, the Bible is so good it can teach itself. I firmly believe that many times, the human aspect gets in the way of what can be taught from the Scriptures. "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. II Timothy 2:15 (KJV)
Simply stated, present the Bible and get out of the way. God will instruct with His still small voice to each individual heart.
I hope that my points are kind of along the lines of what you were getting at in your post.
Bandit,
ReplyDeleteOne of the best Bible teachers that I know is a "retired" pastor that serves as Associate Pastor at our church. My favorite quote from him is, "The best commentary on the Bible is the Bible, itself."
From Facebook comments and e-mails:
ReplyDeleteOnly one actual comment that labelled me as a curmudgeon.
Nobody said, "Oh no, John. You're definitely not a curmudgeon.
And enough people thought that the post was in poor taste (to say the least) that I removed the link from Facebook and deleted the copy posted to my Facebook notes.
I may have to accept that I am at least a "curmudgeon in-training" with much to learn about myself.